How to enable automatic Registry backup on Windows 10

You can now enable automatic Registry backups on Windows 10, and in this guide, you'll learn how to do it.

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@Pureinfotech
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Enable automatic Registry backup on Windows 10
Enable automatic Registry backup on Windows 10

Windows 10 could automatically save a copy of the entire Registry inside the RegBack system folder in previous releases. However, to help reduce storage usage, the OS removed this functionality since the April 2018 Update. As a result, users wanting to recover the system after a corrupt registry hive quickly found that inside the C:\Windows\System32\config\RegBack folder, each registry hive was 0kb in size.

If you want the legacy behavior back, Windows 10 includes a registry key to enable automatic backups again for the entire Registry every time your computer restarts successfully.

In this guide, you will learn the steps to allow Windows 10 to create backups of the Registry every time your computer starts.

Enable automatic backup for Registry

To enable automatic backups of the Registry, use these steps:

Warning: Modifying system files can further damage your Windows installation if it’s not done correctly. It’s assumed that you know what you’re doing and have previously created a full backup of your computer. Proceed with caution and use this as the last course of action.

  1. Open Start on Windows 10.

  2. Search for regedit and click the top result to open the Registry.

  3. Browse the following path:

    HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Configuration Manager

  4. Right-click the Configuration Manager (folder) key, select the New submenu, and click the DWORD (32-bit) Value option.

    Configuration Manager registry
    Configuration Manager registry

  5. Name the key EnablePeriodicBackup and press Enter.

  6. Double-click the newly created DWORD and set the value from 0 to 1.

    Configuring EnablePeriodicBackup for automatic Registry backups on Windows 10
    Configuring EnablePeriodicBackup for automatic Registry backups on Windows 10

  7. Click the OK button.

  8. Restart your computer.

Once you complete the steps, Windows 10 will create a backup of the entire Registry inside the RegBack folder, and it’ll make a “RegIdleBackup” task in the Task Scheduler to manage future backups.

If the time comes when the computer won’t start because of corruption in one of the registry hives, use this guide to restore the Registry from backup to allow Windows 10 to start correctly.

Create manual backup of Registry

To run the Windows 10 Registry backup manually, use these steps:

  1. Open Start.

  2. Search for Task Scheduler and click the top result to open the console.

  3. Browse the following path:

    Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft > Windows > Registry.

  4. Right-click the RegIdleBackup task and select the Run option.

    Running RegIdleBackup task on Windows 10
    Running RegIdleBackup task on Windows 10

After you complete the steps, the task will run to create a backup of the entire Registry using five files (Default, Sam, Security, Software, and System), overwriting the previous backup in the RegBack folder.

About the author
Avatar for Mauro Huculak

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].